Biara
|voice =Herster Wilcox }} Biara was a succubus in service of the Demon Sovereign Kha-Beleth, and formerly affiliated with Agrael. She was notable for her disguise skills, allowing her to impersonate a number of important figures during Queen Isabel's War. Background Before Queen Isabel's War Biara was a succubus who was sent, by orders of Kha-Beleth, to aid Agrael in his trial. She sent him the reinforcements, but did not told him her name. When Agrael was sent to the Griffin Empire, Biara followed him to play a trick on Isabel. When Nicolai ordered Isabel to return to Summer Palace, Biara killed Beatrice and disguised herself as her. During Queen Isabel's War theme]] While Agrael viewed Biara as his accomplice at the time, she was actually spying on him, and eventually made the Kha-Beleth aware of his treacherous plans. Arriving at the Summer Palace before Isabel and Godric did, the duo assassinated Abbess Beatrice, allowing Biara to pose as her, a figure Isabel trusted. "Beatrice" pretended to have called for military reinforcements from Irollan, but instead lured Isabel into a trap, allowing Agrael to capture her. Following Agrael's defeat, Biara accompanied him and the remains of his troops to King Nicolai's tomb, and then to Irollan when Agrael heeded to Tieru's call. However, as she attempted to attack him during the Rite of True Nature, Agrael used the Heart of the Griffin, taken by him from Nicolai's body, to banish the traitorous succubus back to Sheogh, thinking he destroyed her for good before Tieru corrected him. theme]] This was a small setback for Biara, and soon she once again came to Agrael, now known as Raelag, the clanlord of the Shadowbrand Clan of Ygg-Chall, under the guise of a dark elf, Shadya. While following Raelag all the way to the lands of the Griffin Empire, Biara took a detour to Irollan, where she killed Tieru and stole his scroll that could be used to perform the Rite of True Nature on Isabel, allowing to cleanse her of Kha-Beleth's taint. However, Findan cornered her and swore that he would not harm her if she returned him the scroll, which she did. As Shadya, Biara participated in the siege of the Empire's capital city, Talonguard, and was present when the wizard Zehir attempted to perform the Rite of True Nature on Isabel. However, using the Heart of the Griffin, Shadya escaped to Sheogh with the unconscious queen. The Heart was left behind, allowing Zehir to manipulate it to send himself, Godric, Findan and Raelag, along with their armies, into the Demon Sovereign's domain in an attempt to free Isabel before she would give birth to the Demon Messiah. Saint Isabel and the Red Church With the assault on Sheogh finished, Biara assumed another disguise, this time of Isabel herself. Returning to the Empire with Godric, "Isabel" declared herself a saint and founded the Red Church, headed by the fanatical Archbishop Alaric. So began her reign of terror, as she did not hesitate to crush any rebellious lords opposing her rule. Godric himself was imprisoned for his "dangerous" mindset soon after his daughter Freyda was sent to quell the rebellion and retrieve the heir to the Griffin dynasty, Prince Andrei Griffin. Meanwhile, Biara used her guise of Shadya again to approach Thralsai, the leader of the Soulscar clan of Ygg-Chall, and turn him back to demon worship. Incited by Shadya, Thralsai started a new civil war in Ygg-Chall, exploiting Raelag's disappearance, and at the same time turned against the dwarven kingdom of Grimheim. With the Empire — or, more specifically, Laszlo — also provoking a border conflict with Grimheim, each of the three neighboring countries was soon caught in a war on two fronts. Although the new red-clad army of the Griffin Empire was soon beaten out of the dwarven lands and Laszlo ended up dead, and Freyda defected to the rebellion, Biara successfully manipulated the rebels into killing King Tolghar, leaving the dwarves leaderless. Ygg-Chall and Grimheim lay in disarray. Furthermore, with Alaric's help, Biara found Prince Andrei and sacrificed him, changing the nature of the Heart of the Griffin, so that it would summon demons to Ashan instead of banishing them to Sheogh. Demise When Arantir, fighting the demonic corruption in the lands of the Empire, captured Flammschrein and broke the crystal that held a portion of Isabel's soul, Biara's illusion was shattered, and the "Red Queen" appeared before the astonished Alaric in her true form as a succubus. Alaric, driven insane by this revelation, fled the scene, and Biara's inability to change her appearance forced a change of plans. With the Heart of the Griffin, she opened a way for the demons of Sheogh to teleport directly into Talonguard, allowing them to roam the land. The demon reinforcements, however, ultimately only delayed Biara's downfall. With Zehir exposing the demonic presence in the Empire, the Red Church turned away from its "saint". Soon, the alliance of five armies, led by Zehir, Wulfstan, Ylaya, Freyda and Kujin, freed Talonguard from the forces of Sheogh, and the real Isabel killed her impostor on the spot. Gameplay Biara is a Demon Lord. As Shadya, she is a Warlock. Abilities Biara Shadya Scenarios Heroes of Might and Magic V The Queen *'The Trap': He began to climb through the ranks of Demons as Agrael until Kha-Beleth himself sent him on a mission to capture Queen Isabel. The Cultist *'The Betrayal': Raelag needs to reach Sheogh to protect himself from the Empire's wrath. *'The Promise': Raelag learns that Kha-Beleth goes after the Heart of the Griffin, so Raelag needs to get the relic first before his forces arrive. *'Agrael's Decision': At last, Raelag needs to find Tieru amidst the fog. The Warlock *'The Expansion': Shadya comes with Raelag to defeat the Nightshard Clan. *'The Cultists': Shadya, along with Raelag, needs to defeat the Soulscar Clan. *'The March': Raelag and Shadya need to cross the labyrinth. *'Raelag's Offer': Shadya needs to cross (along with Raelag) Sheogh to get to the Queen. The Ranger *'The Refugees': Biara goes to invade Irollan, so Findan needs to stop her. *'The Archipelago': Biara killed Tieru and Findan's task is to defeat her and get the scroll she took. The Mage *'The Alliance': Shadya comes with Raelag to deal with "the Queen situation". At the ritual, she reveals her true form as a succubus and takes the Queen with her. Hammers of Fate Tribes of the East Appearances Biara appears in Heroes of Might and Magic V and its add-ons, Hammers of Fate and Tribes of the East. Gallery Biara1.jpg|Biara's headshot Category:Heroes V characters Category:Heroes V Warlocks Category:Heroes V campaign heroes Category:Heroes V Demon Lords Category:Hammers of Fate characters Category:Tribes of the East campaign heroes Category:Tribes of the East characters